This invention relates to data processing and is more particularly directed to a multiple microprocessor module in which a plurality of microprocesors act in parallel and at the same time.
The invention is more particularly directed to a multiple-microprocessor module in which the several microprocessors are coupled by microprogramming.
Previous suggestions for interconnection of multiple microprocessors proposed a number of microprocessors (with or without local memory) connected to the same bus which also contains a shared memory, or microprocessors connected via a multiport memory. In other words, a microprocessor-memory pair was considered as the basic functional unit, sometimes called a processing element. The way that microprocessor-memory pairs are formed, including their interconnections, is called a multimicroprocessor configuration.
It is an object of this invention to provide a multiple-microprocessor module that has improved data handling speed and flexibility characteristics.
It is another object of the invention to provide a multiple microprocessor module which is easily constructed of reliable, low cost, and readily available integrated circuits.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a multiple-microprocessor module in which the microprocessors are flexibly coupled by microsubroutines.